Author: Katheryn Rivas

Katheryn's Author Bio: Katheryn Rivas is an avid blogger whose true calling is researching and exploring the future of learning. For comments and questions, she can be reached at katherynrivas87@gmail.com.

Early on Monday, June 18th, Business Insider reported that all Apple Store employees would be getting $4 per hour raises. Later on the 18th, Business Insider edited their article on this subject and asserted that they weren’t sure anymore if all Apple Store employees would actually be getting raises of this kind.

Business Insider’s initial claim about the wide-scale increases in pay was based on information provided to them by one source at Apple, who claimed that the technology giant was giving its retail employees significant raises after many of them had expressed disappointment with their wages on Apple employee satisfaction surveys. Since Business Insider initially published the news story on this subject, other sources at Apple have publicly announced that they haven’t heard anything about the $4 per hour pay increases.

If all Apple Store employees do actually get a $4 per hour increase in pay, Apple will certainly make history in the retail arena, where 2% raises every year are the norm. In some areas of the U.S., Apple Store employees only make around $9 per hour. So, a $4 per hour raise would mean that their pay was increasing by almost 50%. If this happened, the Apple Store would certainly not only become a more attractive place for college students to work if they were trying to maximize their pocket change and minimize their student debt. It would also become an attractive place to work for just about everyone who’s unemployed right now. You couldn’t necessarily live in the lap of luxury on an Apple retail salary (even with the $4 per hour raise), but it would certainly beat many other minimum wage alternatives by a long shot in terms of pay.

Specialists who work in Apple stores – known as Apple Experts

News sources had previously reported that Apple employees would be getting 5% increases in pay at some point this summer. A 5% increase in pay is nothing to laugh at, but it pales in comparison to a 50% raise. No one’s sure yet of whether any of the recent rumors about raises at Apple are true, but we can assume that Apple retail employees are hoping for the $4 per hour raises, especially after Business Insider and quite a few other news sources got their hopes up.

Although a $4 per hour raise for all Apple Store employees does seem unlikely, it’s not completely unrealistic. Apple makes a lot of money off of their retail employees, and working at the Apple Store does require some technical knowledge that working at other retail stores generally doesn’t require. Plus, Apple’s call center employees have noticeably higher salaries than most other call center employees, and Apple offers them outstanding health benefits and tuition assistance if they want to go to college. Apple treats its corporate employees well, for the most part. So, it might be time for Apple to show its retail employees some love too.

At this point, there’s no reason for Apple employees to expect $4 per hour raises, but here’s to hoping that it will happen!